


Searching

by floatingaway4



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, me pretending to know sciency things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:01:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28292043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floatingaway4/pseuds/floatingaway4
Summary: Alex is bored and Henry has shiny things on his desk.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 38
Kudos: 157





	Searching

**Author's Note:**

  * For [allmylovesatonce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmylovesatonce/gifts).



> Merry Christmas to my favorite, most supportive fandom friend, Gretchen! Thank you for always being willing to listen to me work through a story idea! Remember how I said I had lots of Car Thoughts™ the other day? Well, these be them. I hope you like them!
> 
> Thanks to rooster_crow for feedback!!

  
  


Alex sighs heavily. 

No response. 

He sighs again, a little more dramatically. 

Still nothing. 

“I’m bored.”

“So I assumed,” Henry says, from his desk across the room. They have to sit with their backs to each other, or they’d do even less work than they already do when they’re in here together. But they don’t want separate offices, either. 

“Break?” 

He hears the squeak of Henry’s chair as it spins around. Alex’s chair is a sleek, modern, black and metal creation that’s practically sculpture. Henry, of course, chose an old, creaky, wooden thing that the shelter got rid of because it was so outdated. Henry fell in love with it and brought it home. 

“How is it you normally can’t shut up, but when you want my attention you suddenly forget how to use your words?” 

Alex spins around, wanting to argue but...why bother? He’s right. Alex shrugs and shoots Henry a little smirk. 

He stands up and walks over to Henry’s desk. He’s planning to suck on Henry’s neck for a while and maybe play with his hair, but gets distracted by the shiny thing on the corner of Henry’s desk. He points at it. “What is that thing, anyway? I’ve been meaning to ask you but I only think of it when I’m in here by myself.” 

Henry picks it up and offers it to Alex. “It’s a sextant.” 

“A sex toy?” Alex jokes. “And you just have it sitting there on your desk? Pervert.” He leers at Henry. "Why haven't we used it?" 

Henry rolls his eyes, not bothering to respond to that. “A sex _tant_ ,” he says, emphasizing the last syllable, “is a tool that sailors use for celestial navigation.” He watches, amused, as Alex holds the telescope part to his eye. “It’s been mostly replaced by modern GPS, but serious sailors still learn to use one as a backup, in case they lose power or can’t get a signal.” He reaches up and swings the index bar back and forth. “It’s a surprisingly precise tool, actually, if you know how to use it.” 

Alex lowers it, gestures toward the old brass telescope that’s also on that corner of Henry’s desk. “Did your dad give you this, too?” 

Henry nods. “And he taught me to use it.” Henry clears his throat. “So, I’ve always…” Henry takes a deep breath and looks up at Alex. He’s quiet for a moment, and Alex can tell he’s thinking about something serious. “Do you remember the night I first kissed you?” 

Alex struggles not to roll his eyes. “Hmm, let me think…where were we?” 

Henry smiles indulgently. “You asked what I was doing outside and I said I was looking for--”

“Orion,” they both say at the same time. 

Henry smiles again. “Yes.” His eyes shift to the side, and Alex can see him thinking through what he’s about to say. He’s learned to give Henry time. “I wasn’t lying.” 

Alex puts the sextant back on the desk, giving Henry his full attention. 

“My dad taught me to sail, and how to navigate with the stars if I ever got lost. Part of that involves knowing the constellations.” Henry points at the vintage celestial map that hangs above his desk. 

  
  


All the text is in French, but Alex gets the general idea. “He taught me to find the North Star first, and from there you can find Orion.” Henry turns back to face him. “That night, I was feeling pretty lost.”

“And jealous,” Alex adds, dropping a kiss in Henry’s hair. 

“And jealous,” Henry agrees. “So when I ended up outside, I just started looking for the North Star, and then for Orion.” 

“Did it help?” Alex asks softly. 

Henry huffs out a laugh. “It made me feel closer to my father, but other than that, no.” 

Alex runs his hands through Henry’s hair. He hates that he hurt Henry, ever, even unknowingly, even for a moment. 

“But then you came out to find me,” Henry says, smiling up at him. That smile that always makes Alex wonder what he thought happiness felt like, before he met Henry. “And you pressed your shoulder against mine, and you talked to me,” he grins and pops an eyebrow at Alex, “and you _kept_ talking.” 

Alex grins. “It’s like my trademark, baby.” 

Henry nods, quick to agree. “And I realized that maybe the, erm, guidance I was looking for wasn’t in the sky.” He takes Alex’s hand. “Maybe it was right beside me, standing in the snow.”

Alex is completely speechless for a full minute. Finally, he hauls Henry up out of his chair and kisses him, starting out soft and getting more and more intense until they stumble to the bedroom. And afterward, they lay tangled together and catch their breath and have their thousandth conversation about maybe getting separate offices. (No.) 

A few weeks later, Henry has to go back to London for a week for family business. The night he comes home Alex plops down beside him on the sofa while he’s unwinding and babbling baby talk to David. He looks excited, eager to share something with Henry. “Guess what?” 

Henry looks over expectantly. “You missed me?” 

Alex rolls his eyes. “That goes without saying. Guess what else?” 

Henry looks in Alex’s eyes for a hint. “I don’t know. What?” 

“I got another tattoo.” 

“You did?” 

“Mmhmm.” Henry can’t quite read the smile on Alex’s face. 

“Let me see.” 

Alex slowly unbuttons his chambray shirt. He wishes he could grab his phone and take a picture of the slowly-dawning wonder in Henry’s eyes, but he’s not about to ruin this moment. 

“Can I touch it?” Henry whispers reverently. 

“Yeah,” Alex answers, just as softly. 

Henry reaches out, gently, like he’s afraid of hurting him. His fingers trace the still-raised lines etched onto Alex’s chest.

“You like it?” 

Henry’s eyes are wet. He looks like he’s trying to come up with the words, finally manages, “It’s beautiful, Alex.” 

Alex bites his lower lip. He was pretty sure this was a good idea but now he knows he was right. Still….“Is it cheesy that I got it over my heart?” 

Henry laughs softly and looks up to meet Alex’s gaze. “Probably.” He shrugs, and looks back to where his fingers are still grazing over the image on Alex’s warm skin. “But when has that ever stopped us, love?” 

Henry just keeps running his fingertips over the little smattering of stars, over the faint lines connecting them, in a pattern he knows by heart. A pattern he doesn’t have to stand outside in the cold and search for anymore. 

And after a stolen kiss in a garden, a year of sneaking around, an international sex scandal, and a year of living together, Henry finally finds Orion. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, in case you haven’t guessed, I know NOTHING about sailing or sextants...or constellations! This is all from Wikipedia and a children’s website about navigation using constellations. :-) 


End file.
